Coyotes prospect Murphy competing for gold medal

Aside from staying healthy, the top of defenseman Connor Murphy’s to-do list from the Coyotes is to rack up as much game experience as he can.

He was doing that, playing for Sarnia in the Ontario Hockey League, and he’s definitely continued to do so in the 2013 World Juniors Championship as he and Team USA will compete for gold on Saturday. Puck drop is 6 a.m. Arizona time against Sweden.

Murphy’s played in all six games, working alongside Mike Reilly. The 19-year-old from Boston has one assist, is plus-5 and has seven shots on goal. But his role on this American team is primarily as a shutdown defender, and that’s exactly what he’s delivered in helping Team USA try to win its second gold medal since 2010.

“Heâ€™s been safe, steady, reliable,” Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney said. “Really, heâ€™s a coachâ€™s dream in the sense that they know what theyâ€™re getting with him. Heâ€™s been put in more of a defensive, penalty-killing, checking role, which is fine. Heâ€™s smart. Weâ€™re really happy with his game. Thereâ€™s not a lot of flash there. Itâ€™s just really sound play,Â and he — touch wood — God-willing he continues to stay healthy and goes back to junior and plays as many games as possible, and heâ€™s really on the right track. Weâ€™re really happy with where his game is right now.”

Murphy went in the first round of the 2011 draft, 20th overall, and he had 26 points (six power play goals) in 35 games with Sarnia before leaving for the tournament.

This is Coyotes Assistant General Manager Brad Treliving’s scouting report on Murphy:

“I really like his game. If you look at him, heâ€™s a big boy. Heâ€™s still got to physically mature. Heâ€™s pushing 6-5 right now and probably a lean 200 pounds right now, so heâ€™s still going to develop. But I like, obviously, his size, his range. Heâ€™s one of those guys that just covers a lot of range. Long stick, long stride, can really defend. Really smart. If you see in the games in the World Juniors heâ€™s playing in a matchup role, and heâ€™s playing a lot of penalty kill. Heâ€™s been outstanding on the penalty kill and, again, can move a puck. The thing with Connor is heâ€™s just getting more games in the bank. I touch wood every time I talk about him because the No.1 thing for him is just to stay healthy, but we really are excited where his game has come and just keep getting some more games in the bank and stay healthy and I think these last couple of weeks have been great for him.”

Why the salary floor is important in negotiations

After a few days of progress, labor negotiations between the NHL and Players’ Association have seemed to sour. That’s not encouraging news with only a week to go before the league’s deadline to implement a 48-game season.

Instead of just focusing on the doom-and-gloom factor of talks, Michael Grange of Sportsnet had a really thought-provoking piece this week about the role of the salary cap and its floor during talks.

As Grange explains it, the PA is hoping to have the cap in Year 2 of a new collective bargaining agreement at about $70 million. But this is a term the league will not give in on — not because the number is too high but because of its impact on the floor.

The floor is particularly important to smaller-market teams, like the Coyotes, because it determines the minimum teams must spend. The less they’re required to do, the better, especially early in this potentially new CBA. Commissioner Gary Bettman realizes this, Grange says, and is a voice for these teams.

The NHL wants a floor of $44 million next season and with a $16 million gap between the floor and ceiling, that puts the cap at $60 million — way less than what the PA wants.

How does this affect the Coyotes? Well, according to capgeek.com, their current cap payroll is roughly $50 million. They would have needed to spend approximately $4 million to get to the floor if this season started on time and under the previous salary parameters.

But if the cap floor shifts next season to $44 million, the Coyotes would only need to spend a little more than $11 million (they’re currently on the books for just south of $32 million next season) they have to reach the floor — far less than if the floor was in the $50 million range ($16 million less than the $65 or 67 million cap the players will likely negotiate).

And with goalie Mike Smith set to become an unrestricted free agent and Mikkel Boedker and Oliver Ekman-Larsson reaching restricted free agent status, it wouldn’t be too much of a challenge to bridge the gap.

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